Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Criminal Law Blogs -> Fourth Amendment

Criminal Law

: Fourth Amendment

MA: Uncorroborated 911 call could not justify stop where state failed to show reasonable suspicion of a gun

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Anonymous 911 caller’s veracity was not be established by the state. "Without the 911 call being offered in evidence, we cannot 'conclude that the caller placed his anonymity at risk or was otherwise reliable.'" Corroboration of only innocent details was not enough. The protective sweep of defendant’s car was unjustified. Commonwealth v. Mubdi, 2010 Mass. LEXIS 121 (March 29, 2010).* An off-duty drug dog officer came to a traffic stop and ran around the car while the first officer was writing a ticket for a cracked windshield. The stop was not unreasonably extended by this action. Apparently the dog alerted before the ticket was written. Lovato v. State, 2010 WY 38, 2010 Wyo. LEXIS 41 (March 26, 2010).*

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on March 30, 2010 (boomark / email).